THIS IS NOT A TOY: In the past few week's I've acquired a few new vinyl figures that cannot be missed. No, I mean literally! The colorful boxes these come in each measure over 15" in one dimension or another. Oh, lest I not mention these are from the daddy o' cool vinyl, Mr. Frank Kozik. You may have seen our recent interview with the man himself within these pages, or maybe perhaps our review of the Heathrow colorways? Speaking of which, these are horses of completely different colors! Today we will look at the iconic Mechabanana from Kozik's own personal brand, Ultraviolence (sculpted by Brin Berliner) and the slightly more recent trio WR&H (William, Reginald & Henry) otherwise known as the "Royal Society of Explorers" (w/Arts Unknown which is now defunct).
MECHABANANA
PEEL SLOWLY: The Mechabanana (2011) is a gargantuan cross-breed between the past and the present, pop art and post-pop, a banana and the tongue-in-cheek echoes of industrialized farming taken over by Dr. Frankenstein! Yes, people, it's a tropical fruit that just might take over the world, one rivet at a time. We took ours out for a trip around town. And at about 18" long it was hard to go unnoticed:
Catching Up With Kozik: With a sly wink towards Warhol and all that the era represented, here we've taken the fun of peeling back a fun fruit to discover it's robotic tendencies. Here we have the Mechabanana (White) and we noticed there is one left on Amazon of all places! The sculpt is genius to where the figure/sculpture is held up by its peels as it rests, or perhaps sits in wait for the cartoonish slip and fall scenes of yore.
But, wait, that's not all. This lovely thing that defies nature wouldn't be the same without a handful of curious colorways, so here's a quick round-up of what we spied out there on the web....aside from the below there is also a GITD version! The top image here is of an incredible custom.
The variety is wonderful and this truly looks like a work of art when it's displayed in your home (I happen to have a white dining table which it's resting on now). Most definitely a discussion starter, and these are each limited to only 40, so you snatch one before the end of the Summer or your smoothies will never be so smooth. Special thanks go out to DKE Toys.
.....Or just take it with you on the road - it could be the new 'gnome' ;)
RATING
Sculpt: 10/10
Paint: N/A
Design: 9.5/10
Packaging: 9/10
Availability: Becoming Scarce
William, Henry & Reginald
I'm thrilled to bits to have received this amazing set from our friends at Tenacious Toys! It came in this gorgeous deep forest box with gold foil embossing, so savage and big it felt like my 50th came a lil' early. We still have four month's of fanfare for that glorious occasion, but no less a celebration even before unboxing this beauty. Introducing William, Henry & Reginald - Blue Sunshine Edition.....
First off, it's a cute overload, along with a bright variance in the color orange (other colorways include green, purple, grey, white and black - though this one is the jam). It's like tangerine meeting Tang for the first time and they radiate a sense of candy-colored wishes come true. While not "sickly sweet" these three also come with a few accessories:
The cloth umbrella with purple details and wood spokes can simply lay on its side or you can fasion some kind of diorama of your own imagination. And William, the moustachioed rhino comes with his British Police-like cap with gold and purple paint detailing and orange pipe that fits in a small hole below his chin. He is 8" tall and also has a white bandage on his bum (nice detail). Also, his arms have some articulation up and down. The paint is impeccable throughout with bright white highlights on all three figures. Reginald the pygmy elephant wears a perfectly contrasting purple fez with tassles (I wish the tassles were actual fabric - though the are nicely detailed nonetheless).
Henry the toucan (tickbird) comes in two parts, his body and orange feet that sort of snap on, they easily come on and off - and I'd recommend gluing the two disparate pieces together so you don't have to finagle it after the first insertion. Some of these are actually magnetic where the bird actually can perch on William's back which is pretty cool.
Let's have a look at some details of these figures to get a better idea of what they look like when not simply staring at us:
Where Cute Meets Crazy: As you can see the finer details were not overlooked, and the figures here as you might consider are perhaps a thespian thinktank (ala Sherlock Holmes), or perhaps they are spies...we will simply have to wait for their next adventure - and I hope to see more of these particular characters come down the pike in short order. I'd love to see Mr. Kozik go meta on these and reference one of his crazy dictator mash-ups or see these three meet one of his carrot wielders head-on. These particular characters seem an anomoly in the larger scape of Kozik, but they are most welcome in my home and you probably want to grab one for the road yourself....especially since YOU, our readers, yes you, can save $60 on this lovely right here.
That's right, we have teamed up with Tenacious Toys to offer a nice discount on the figures you will love most. And they are extending this offer on the other colorways they have in stock as well which is really nice in case you are super duper into neon green or cool as a cucumber snow white. And since these were originally (and still are elsewhere on the market) priced at $100, this is a true deal that you will honestly jump for joy like I did when it arrives on your doorstep!
Nuf' said.